Anti-piracy efforts in the Gulf of Aden represent a successful example of international cooperation to secure sea lines of communication (SLOC), which involves cooperation between the U.S. and China and with the navies of many other nations. What are the strengths and weaknesses of U.S. and Chinese naval cooperation in the fight against piracy, and what lessons does each nation’s experience in the Gulf of Aden offer for future Sino-American joint efforts to safeguard SLOCs in other maritime regions? This article introduces piracy as a shared non-traditional maritime security threat, surveys PLAN anti-piracy operations and Sino-American approaches, examines the nature of U.S.-China antipiracy cooperation to date, discusses lessons offered by the Gulf of Aden case for future U.S.-China maritime commons governance, and offers larger principles to guide bilateral cooperation. …

For further analysis of current and potential Chinese anti-piracy contributions, see: